


our story, love's glory; oh, how divine

by queenwithoutacrown



Category: The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Future Fic, Non-Linear Narrative
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-07
Updated: 2018-02-07
Packaged: 2019-03-15 05:36:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13606665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenwithoutacrown/pseuds/queenwithoutacrown
Summary: This time, they don't have to read between the lines. She spells it out for them, plain and simple, black ink on white paper, avoiding any misunderstanding.Even in death, Karen Page lets Hell's Kitchen know she loves Frank Castle.(johnnyswiminthekastle week - day 7: free choice)





	our story, love's glory; oh, how divine

 

What is it to be _hero_?

 

*

 

"Just promise me one thing."

"Hmm?"

"I get to go first."

"Okay."

 

*

 

She keeps her promise.

Even if it breaks her heart, even though her soul is aching with loss.

It is fair though, as difficult as it is.

They've always kept their promises.

They've always asked the impossible of each other.

 

*

 

You can find peace anywhere, if you're just looking deep into your heart and listen.

She desperately hopes it is peaceful. Tears, so many tears. Rivers leading down to a sea of them, so many has she cried in the span of years, decades. Not all of them have been shed out of sadness; sometimes it was happiness and laughter.

Many times, even.

His heart stops beating in the dead of night, as if even the Grim Reaper is afraid of the Punisher.

Karen holds his hand and cries.

 

*

 

Ellison had handed her the sceptre, figuratively. "It's your kingdom now. Don't burn it down," he'd said, literally.

Oh, and she had ruled so well.

For years, past what might've been socially acceptable maybe.

Her heart had been in it, in every moment.

She writes article after article, pushes past any boundaries she comes across, whatever they may be. She has an obligation to uncover the truth, a need for it no drug can replicate.

 

*

 

Her heart is in the paper, but Frank is the one holding her heart, just as she holds his.

It's a deal, equilibrium.

 

*

 

It's surprisingly easy, to carve out a life together. Bleach saves the carpet from the blood stains once or twice, before they throw it out altogether. The smell of coffee from all around the world is etched into their memory and the walls. Long nights spent naked on the couch, cold days laying under the covers.

The dangers, the threats, the monsters, the anxiety; they handle it. Not always well, but they handle it.

It's them against the world.

But then hasn't it always been? 

It's surprisingly quiet, the life they choose together.

 

*

 

"It's your kingdom now. Make me proud," Karen says to the woman who will be her successor. The pep talk Ellison has given all those years ago rings in her ears.

She nods.

"Would you be doing me a favour?"

And as Karen tells her about it, she smiles.

 

*

 

His beard is more salt than pepper these days; the hair still has to catch up on to his ageing body. She laughs at him as she runs a hand over it.

"But if I say a wrong word about your wrinkles all hell breaks loose."

"I don't have any wrinkles," she answers, almost offended.

He points his index finger to the crinkles at her eye. "Here." Smooths down his hand to take hers. "And here."

"You think your back can handle the couch you'll inevitably sleep on tonight if you keep going on like this?"

He laughs, it echoes against the bathroom tiles. Carefree, like birds opening their wings to fly. It's the one sound that fills his days, that brings the expression of greatest joy on her face.

It's a gift to grow old together.

Frank knows it more than anybody else.

There'll be many more wrinkles and he cannot wait.

 

*

 

"After I die, publish one last article I've written."

 

*

 

Leo's eyes are tear-swollen, but Karen doesn't cry at his funeral. Her tears were never meant for the public eye. 

She has cried for him so many times before, it's enough. 

They've gotten so much more time than she'd have expected.

Than they'd have expected.

They got to grow old. Together. Sometimes, even now, even after, the word still feels foreign to her tongue. For years they lived with the knowledge of having the carpet pulled away from under their feet. The moment never happened. It just went on and on.

Now, there's peace in letting go after a life well lived too.

She hopes there'll be an after.

 

*

 

"The truth. Your truth, Karen. All of it. Everything that you've been through. Don't pull any punches. This is New York. People think that they've seen everything. Prove 'em wrong. Tell them something they don't know. Hell, I'd read the shit out of that."

 

*

 

_Many men and women have talked about bravery. Surviving is bravery, being alive is bravery, breathing despite everything is bravery, loving is bravery._

_You are reading the words of a dead woman, I do hope they'll last you longer than a fleeting moment. I write them with the hope that you'll think about them when you may need them._

_Love in all its shapes and forms is the greatest motivator humankind may have. Ever since ancient times stories have outlasted, about all the things we did for love. Maybe it's just who we are, maybe it's just how it's supposed to work._

_I am not writing my own obituary, I don't know if anybody will, I don't know if I want them to. But I'll share with you a love lived in shadows, hidden from the public eye when it should've have been displayed on Times Square. I'll write somebody else obituary in place of mine._

_Frank Castle died six years ago, under a different name, still alive when the world had thought him long dead._

_Frank Castle, The Punisher._

_Most of you will be too young to remember, but those who do, just remember there are two sides to every story._

_He grew decades older than he ever though he'd live to see. I have loved him till his dying breath, till mine, and beyond._

_I dare to say the same applies for him._

_He was a hero, a good man._

_Sometimes bravery is seeking a safe haven, keeping the things you love most close to your chest._

 

*

 

This time, they don't have to read between the lines.

She spells it out for them, plain and simple, black ink on white paper, avoiding any misunderstanding.

Even in death, Karen Page lets Hell's Kitchen know she loves Frank Castle.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Title: Don't Keep Heaven Busy - Johnnyswim  
> Tumblr: qqueenwithoutacrown
> 
> Well, here it is, the last fic for this week. A big thank you to goddamnitkastle over on tumblr for coming up with it. I loved writing every single story (and all of them at the same time :D) and I loved listening to a new artist.
> 
> This is arguably the saddest and shortest story, but I still hope you enjoy it. Thank you for reading and don't be shy to let me know what you think! 
> 
> PS.: The first snippet of conversation was inspired by one of the (in my opinion) most iconic scenes on Gilmore Girls between Richard and Emily. I still cry.


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